Board of Internal Economy

Introduction

The Board of Internal Economy (the Board) is committed to
increasing public understanding about its role and the
expenditures of the House of Commons and its Members. To
help meet this objective, this section provides detailed
information about the Board of Internal Economy. The
Board is also working hard to make expenditure and
financial reports clearer and easier to access.

About the Board of Internal Economy

Role of the Board of Internal Economy

The Board of Internal Economy is the governing body of
the House of Commons.

In this capacity, the Board makes decisions and provides
direction on financial and administrative matters of the
House of Commons, specifically concerning its premises,
its services, its staff and Members of the House of
Commons.

The Board is responsible for establishing By-laws,
policies and guidelines relating to expenditures and
resources provided to Members in order to carry out their
parliamentary functions. The Board also has the exclusive
authority to determine whether expenditures are proper
and in accordance with the By-laws, policies and
guidelines that have been established. This authority is
given to the Board by the Parliament of Canada Act.

Membership of the Board

The Board consists of the Speaker, who acts as Chair, two members of the Privy
Council (appointed to the Board by the Government), the
Leader of the Opposition or his or her representative,
and additional Members appointed in numbers so that the
total results in an overall equality of government and
opposition representatives (apart from the Speaker). The Clerk of the House of Commons, who reports to the
Speaker, serves as Secretary to the Board of Internal
Economy.

Decisions of the Board of Internal Economy are made on a
non-partisan basis. All recognized parties (i.e. those
holding at least 12 seats in the House) are given
representation on the Board.

The Board of Internal Economy designates two
spokespersons from its membership: a member of the
Government and a member of the Official Opposition. They
respond to questions related to Board business during
Question Period and to enquiries from the media.